


Admission To Performance

by Howlingdawn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Fluff, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29389389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howlingdawn/pseuds/Howlingdawn
Summary: Woken early by an unexpected noise, Valkyrie quickly discovers something new about Loki's daughter.
Relationships: Brunnhilde | Valkyrie & Original Child Character, Brunnhilde | Valkyrie/Loki (Marvel) (background)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Admission To Performance

**Author's Note:**

> Written for startrekkingaroundasgard's Love is in the Air writing challenge! My prompt was platonic love + emerald + guitar + first, and I used it to write a fic in my single dad (well, formerly single at the time of this fic) Loki AU I came up with a couple months ago! I hope to get this AU fully written at some point, but for now, I hope you enjoy this piece of it!

Nine months after the blip, life finally seemed to have settled into the normal Valkyrie had expected after leaving Sakaar nearly six years ago.

Well, that wasn’t exactly right. She hadn’t expected to have to help rebuild Asgard. She hadn’t expected to fall in love with the heir to Asgard’s throne. And she certainly hadn’t expected to become the closest thing to a mother his formerly secret daughter had ever had. But sprawled in Loki’s bed on a lazy Saturday morning, she wouldn’t change a thing.

Except, perhaps, for whatever noise was currently waking her up.

She lifted her head, narrowing her eyes at the door. Loki was sound asleep beside her, so it wasn’t him, which left…

_What is Astrid doing?_

Dragging herself out of bed, throwing on a hoodie and sweatpants, she opened the door just enough to slip out, closing it silently behind her, and paused, listening.

Muffled music drifted down the hall, but not music she was listening to. No, it sounded like…

_Is she playing the guitar?_

Val crept down the hallway to her bedroom door, ever so carefully opening it just a crack so she could hear better.

Astrid stumbled over some of the notes, but she never wavered, playing through the mistakes, humming steadily along. Listening to her, Val could only smile, enjoying the fun she was clearly having.

All too soon, the song came to an end, petering out with a few final notes.

“I know you’re there.”

With a flicker of emerald magic, the door swung open, completely exposing Val’s eavesdropping. Clearing her throat, she straightened up. “I was just-”

“Nope.” Sitting on her bed, the twelve-year-old flicked her finger, making a net of magic stretched across the door shimmer. “Detection spell,” she said. “One of the first things Dad taught me.”

Val stepped inside, watching the shimmer fade from view.

“I’ve had one on my door every night for longer than I can remember,” she said, closing the door with another wave of her hand.

Deliberately avoiding Astrid’s desk, Val took a seat in her reading chair, kicking her feet up on her nightstand. “You don’t have to do that anymore,” she reminded her gently.

“Yeah, well,” she sighed, “old habits die hard, I guess.”

Val pointed at the potato chips on her nightstand in silent question, and in response, Astrid floated them over, leaning over to look at her notes after Val had grabbed them. Only when she was distracted and Val was munching away did she take a minute to study her.

Back when she had first met her, when Loki had asked her to go to Midgard to watch over her when Thanos attacked, Astrid’s striking resemblance to her father had resulted in some discreet staring in the long hours before the snap. But now that she had finally had the chance to get to know the girl, she knew their resemblance lay in more than shared looks and magical talents: They carried the same weight in their souls, the same paranoia-honed confidence of someone who had grown up in the shadows, living life in fear of being themselves.

After spending most of the first twelve years of her life on the run from Odin’s soldiers and Loki’s enemies, it was hardly any wonder she had inherited that as well as her looks.

And dying in the snap certainly hadn’t helped her shake it off.

Firmly banishing the memory of her disappearing in her arms, of Loki running in from Wakanda to find her old desk covered in ash, Val plastered what she hoped was a cheerful expression onto her face. “Thank you,” she said, “for letting me listen.”

Astrid smiled, a tiny, genuine expression. “Did you like it?”

“Yeah!” Val said. “You’re a talented kid. Even if you did wake me up on my one morning off.”

“Sorry,” Astrid said, not sounding sorry at all. Val chucked a crumb at her, making her duck with a giggle, and as her laughter faded, she added, “I _was_ going to tell you. It was just supposed to be a surprise.”

“Oh?” Valkyrie asked. “A surprise for what?”

“I know you and Dad can’t really do anything for Valentine’s Day this year, so…” She tapped the guitar. “I was gonna play you a song.”

“That’s sweet,” Val said. “I’ll pretend to be surprised.”

Astrid chuckled, laying the guitar down and scooting back to lean on the wall. “Thanks.”

“Where’d you get the guitar, anyway?” Val asked, crunching another chip. “I don’t remember you ever asking for one.”

“Lila may be letting me borrow it,” she answered. “And I, ah, may have snuck it here the last time we visited the Bartons.”

At Val’s questioning eyebrow, she waved her hand, and in another ripple of emerald magic, it shrunk down to a pocket-sized toy.

“I think your father may have taught you _too_ well.”

“He didn’t exactly have a choice,” Astrid pointed out wryly.

“I suppose he didn’t,” Val murmured. She licked crumbs off her thumb, considering the guitar. “Can I ask you something?”

Astrid’s eyes narrowed slightly, taking on an all-too-familiar hint of a wary glint. “Sure.”

“I understand practicing alone, especially if you want to surprise somebody,” Val began. “But… you’ve never mentioned any interest in music. Why?”

Astrid bit her lip, starting to pick at her palm. “It’s… I just didn’t feel like it.”

Val crossed her arms. “Astrid Lokisdottir, you are the child of the most famous trickster in the Nine Realms. I expect better lying than _that_.”

“It’s- it’s not _entirely_ a lie-”

“Astrid.” Val took her feet off the nightstand, leaning forward. “If you really don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But you’re _home_ now. You’re _safe_. Gods know your father and I are still learning this concept ourselves, but you can be honest here. No one’s going to judge you.”

“I…”

She trailed off, picking at her palm more desperately than before, and for a minute, Val thought she would stay silent.

Abruptly, she gestured at Val’s arm – at her tattoo. “You’re a _Valkyrie_ ,” she said. “ _The_ Valkyrie. Uncle Thor’s an Avenger. And Dad’s… well, he’s Dad. My grandma died protecting Aunt Jane, and my grandfather and other aunt conquered entire realms, not to mention everything my ancestors achieved. Even your friends are all Avengers or Guardians or what have you. It’s… it’s a lot to live up to.”

“And you will,” Val reassured her. “Except for the conquering realms bit. I know you will.”

“But that’s the _thing_ ,” Astrid said. “I-”

She paused.

Swallowed.

And forced out, “I don’t think I _want_ to.”

Val blinked.

_Oh._

As if the admission had opened the floodgates, Astrid swept on. “Lila – she always talks about becoming the next Hawkeye. Peter’s four years older than me and already an Avenger. Even Morgan talks about having her own suit sometimes. And I know that Dad didn’t want to teach me to fight, but he did, and now everyone just kind of thinks I like it and expects that I’ll keep doing it, but… I don’t. I like magic, and before… you know, _before_ , I _thought_ I liked fighting.

“But now… when I listen to Lila going on about karate and archery, I realize that I never felt like that. I guess I just did it to make Dad happy, to let him know that I could defend myself if we were discovered. And before, that was a good reason to keep going. But now that I don’t have to run and hide and prepare for a doomsday scenario all the time, I think I hate it.”

She paused for a breath, glancing at the guitar. “I remember music class, though, right before Dad and I had to leave that planet where time passes faster than the rest of the universe. It wasn’t exactly a guitar, but when I played it… I don’t know what I felt, exactly, but I never forgot that feeling. And when I played Lila’s guitar for the first time, it almost felt like coming home. Like I was doing the thing I was _meant_ to do.”

She ran a hand through her hair, avoiding Val’s eyes. “I guess this is my long-winded way of saying that I think I want to be a musician when I grow up. Not an Avenger.”

The response came instantly. Easily.

“Then that’s exactly what you should be.”

Astrid looked up at her, eyes wide. “Really?”

“If that’s your dream, then of _course_ we’ll support you,” Val promised. “I’m sorry we’ve made you feel pressured to become something you don’t want to be. That was _never_ our intention. And now that we know, we can set about fixing it. Ok? We’ll spoil you with all the instruments and music lessons you want.”

“Really?” Astrid whispered.

Val reached out, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Really.”

Beneath watery eyes, Astrid beamed.

“Though perhaps you should stop scheming with Lila,” Val teased. “Clint and Loki might start to suspect something.”

Astrid blushed bright red. “I don’t- we aren’t- there’s nothing to suspect.”

“Mhm,” Val hummed, ruffling her hair as she stood up. “Sure.”

“I-”

“Val?”

Loki’s voice caught them both off guard, making them jump around. “I’m in here,” she answered.

“Wait!” Astrid hissed, grabbing her hand. “Don’t tell him. I want to surprise _somebody_.”

“Then you’d better hide that,” Val said, pointing at the guitar.

Astrid lunged for it, scrambling to shove it under her blankets.

She finished, stretching out in the most unnatural position, just in time for Loki to poke his head inside. “What are you two doing?”

“Nothing,” Astrid answered.

“Girl stuff,” Val said simultaneously.

Loki narrowed his eyes, not fooled for a moment. “Do I want to know?”

“Nope,” they answered.

He studied them for a moment longer, glancing at Astrid’s suspiciously lumpy blankets. Ultimately, he just shook his head, evidently deciding it wasn’t worth pursuing right now. “I’m going to make breakfast.”

Astrid perked up. “Pancakes?”

He softened as he always did at her eagerness. “Pancakes,” he agreed.

With one last glance at Astrid’s hasty hiding job, he left.

Astrid let out a breath. “Thanks.”

“Cover it up better next time.”

“Wh- You were _just_ as bad!”

“Not the point,” Val said. “And maybe do a soundproofing spell if you don’t want him to find out yet.”

“Ok, that one’s a good idea,” she conceded.

“I thought so.”

Somehow, Astrid found the crumb Val had thrown earlier and chucked it right back at her.


End file.
